Advocacy group urges more government investments in radio

Radio remains the most effective channel for information dissemination, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, Media for Development Initiative (MDINigeria) has said.

In a statement to mark the world International Day for Radio, MDINigeria’s Team Leader, Ahmed Maiyaki said despite widespread use of social media; radio remains the most effective channel for reaching diverse groups of people simultaneously especially those residing in rural and semi urban areas where access to internet is still a luxury.

The advocacy group urged governments at all levels to renew commitments towards investment in radio infrastructure to facilitate sustainable development, improve healthcare delivery as well as eradicate poverty among people.

The group also urges radio stations to generate contents that impact directly on the people “radio should be in the forefront in advocacy for peace, education, agricultural development, healthcare and poverty reduction.”

MDINigeria calls on government, groups and individuals to establish more radio stations in the country “especially in community based stations to give voice to the masses on issues of development, democracy and governance. People need to be heard and the cheapest, most affordable and most effective means is radio.”

The group said “Radio has remained one effective means of reaching out to many that cannot be reached through other channels with high ethical standards.
“For instance, lack of control and basic ethics on social media led to abuses by many users and rises doubts on reliability of content which are mostly user generated.

“We welcome moves by Twitter to introduce some measures of control of abuse and excesses by users and also call on other social media platforms to consider the introduction of some measure that will curb excesses.”

The World Radio Day is celebrated every February 13 since 2012 by United Nations member states. The theme for the 2017 World Radio Day “Radio is You.”